Friday, 31 December 2010

It has been a year of unusual rain. Drought broken, dams full, rivers overflowing, grass long, fields green. But subsequently very hot weather has arrived, just in time for the new year. Logic says we will now see a period of disastrous fires. Let's hope the mowers can get into action to prevent this.

Candid Canberra #38. Summer sunrise.

It's a new year tomorrow. Let's hope and pray and work towards a better and brighter 2011. I know some of you are hanging out for that. Me, I am full of expectation.

My new year resolutions, or rather, my plans for 2011, include:

January

Build fairly quickly to 100k per week

Add in two exercise circuits each week

February

Add in two gym sessions each week

April

Shed one key responsibilty

May

Turn 63

December

End up with over 4,000 km for the year

Just for interest:

2008

2009

2010

DISTANCE RUN

4.095 km

3,271 km

2,211 km

APPROX WEIGHT

65 kg

67 kg

68 kg

My weight was down to 64 in mid-2010 but then the hamstring injury happened. So other goals would include (a) weight in the low 60's by the end of the year, and (b) don't get injured!

Tuesday, 28 December 2010

Parliament House training yesterday afternoon. I ran 8k early, five people joined me after that,Jen & Ruth ran just the warmup, Andy, Christopher, Craig & I ran the warmup then ran 12 x 200m on 2:30 with a 250m recovery, Rose Garden loop. Which means, I have completed all three such sessions within the 30 minute time limit. Next the challenge is to negotiate the hills successfully starting next Monday.

Sunday, 26 December 2010

I am having a relaxing Boxing Day/Sunday, with family visitors and milder than usual December weather. I am feeling no desire to get out and hammer around any of my regular training courses: that can all start again tomorrow. Saturday was a good day for eating Christmas turkey and sipping wine. At any point in time there have been between three and eight grandchildren in our home; we have been sharing the visitors from Shellharbour with their other grandparents.

Now is probably a good time for me to share about next year. In 2009 this blog followed a theme of "transformation". In 2010 I occasionally pursued a theme of unity/diversity, although you wouldn't have noticed as I didn't spell it out.

[Slight pause as I save my wife's life! She had a lump of ham stuck in her throat! Panic is now over and we can relax again]

In 2011 I shall return to discuss running fundamentals. Stuff I wrote five years ago will be reviewed, modified, simplified, supplemented. The key-word which I shall use as a label for these posts: "foundations".

BBQ Stakes Results 22/12

Roger Pilkington 28.20

Geoff Moore 28.24

Caroline Campbell 36.02.

Up and Running... 21/12/2010

"YMCA of Canberra Runners Club welcomes the announcement by Fairfax Events of its inaugural Australian Running Festival, to be held in Canberra on 9-10 April 2011. (see announcement on websitehttp://canberramarathon.com.au/)"

"Club president, Geoff Sims said Canberra runners will be pleased, in particular, to see a marathon event in the April program. The new Canberra Times Canberra Marathon maintains the tradition of an Autumn marathon in Canberra, started over three decades ago by the ACT Cross Country Club. YMCA of Canberra Runners Club was established on 24 November 2010 by a resolution of the YMCA of Canberra Board. The aims of the new club are to encourage and promote cross-country and road running and to organise running events in Canberra into the future. YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is independent of the ACT Cross Country Club and is not associated with the dispute that has led the latter club into liquidation. From January 2011, the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club will conduct cross country, road running, jogalong and training events for Canberra's distance running community. Its program of events will be similar to that offered until December 2010 by the ACT Cross Country Club. YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is pleased to be associated with Fairfax Events in the conduct of its Australian Running Festival. The club is satisfied that Fairfax Events is committed to maintaining a cooperative and fair relationship with the Canberra running community. YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is managed by a committee of runners, reporting to the YMCA Board. The principal office holders are Geoff Sims, President, Sherryl Greathead, Vice-President, Bob Lowry, Secretary and Graeme Small, Treasurer."

History of establishment of YMCA of Canberra Runners Club: "Arrangements to create the new club began in July 2010. A group of Canberra runners not involved with management of the ACT Cross Country Club formed an association that would be able to organise distance running events in the ACT, should the ACT Cross Country Club be unable to do so. After exploring the most effective and economic way of administering a running program, and after considering benefits for runners, foundation members of the new association applied to create a distance running club within the YMCA of Canberra. To ensure its ability to meet the needs and expectations of the Canberra running community, the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club has acquired ACT Cross Country Club equipment, rights to use business names for major running events and ownership of the 'Canberra Runner' website.YMCA of Canberra's involvement with athletics extends back to at least 2003, when it established the YMCA Masters Games Athletics Club to conduct the athletics program for the Healthpact 9th Australian Masters Games. The club has continued to operate as the organiser of National Running Week activities held in Thredbo each January."

"The YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is supporting the inaugural Australian Running Festival, to be staged in Canberra by Fairfax Events over the weekend of 9 and 10 April 2011. Entries are open via the websitehttp://canberramarathon.com.au/"

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 with No comments

Eustace Scrubb

Will Poulter has been nominated for the Young British Performer Of the Year at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards. What am I talking about? The magnificent "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".

Song of the Week: Mess of Me.

Switchfoot's album Hello Hurricane is one of my five "best albums of 2010".

Candid Canberra #34 - Crazy about moons rising

Dunlop last night. Apparently a lunar eclipse happens twice every three years. Something like that.

My running plans for 2011 part #1.
Only four races inked in so far. Otherwise it's pretty sparse.
1. January 22 Capital Summer Half Marathon - treat as a tempo run.
2. April 10 Canberra Running Festival Half Marathon - reverse my 2010 defeat by Andy!
3. July 3 Gold Coast Half Marathon - see what I can do up in Queensland while on holidays with my mates. I haven't run at the Gold Coast for about 20 years. I am looking forward to it. It's the most popular marathon/half marathon event in Australia.
4. October 16 Australian Masters Games Half Marathon in Adelaide - go for broke!

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Last night at training: Andy, Brett, Caroline, Christopher, Craig, me, Joel, Nadine, Neil, Tony, Warrick & Yelena met at Parliament House for a session of 12 x 200 on 2:30 including a jog of ~ 260m. There was a bit of scaffolding at our usual start point for this session so we began and ended each loop at the 200m start line for a change. Yours truly managed to hang on and complete the whole session again. However, my other two companions in the early 8k run, Brett & Nadine, succumbed to a sore knee and a twisted ankle respectively. Here's hoping they return from holidays fully recovered.

After a very cold day, it wasn't too bad when the sun emerged in late afternoon as we trained.

Candid Canberra #34 - occasional visitors.

The cicadas have returned! On the weekend you could hear them in the trees around Lake Burley Griffin. And quite a few carcasses were down on the path.

Monday, 20 December 2010

It feels like winter today. This morning we have rearranged the lounge room and rekindled the fire! There was a report of snow near Yass, and I am not surprised. We are not far from Yass, here in West Belconnen. But, is it the longest day of the year about now? How strange this weather has been.

This is along one of our regular spring series/summer series courses. Not to mention being part of the East Basin - Kings Avenue - Jerrabomberra Wetlands loop we train on sometimes. A bit of a worry that the Parkes Way road is just above the retaining wall shown in the photo.

Have your say on the Bowen Place crossing
"Three options for improving safety at the Bowen Place crossing have been released for public comment by the National Capital Authority.

"Located near Kings Avenue Bridge, the Bowen Place crossing forms part of the popular pedestrian and cyclist route around Lake Burley Griffin’s central basin. It is also a busy commuter peak hour road in and out of the Parliamentary Zone, as well as being a point of access to Kings Avenue Bridge.

"'The NCA has been working with representatives from heritage, pedestrian, cycling and motorist groups for the last twelve months.

"'Based on comments received by the stakeholder groups, three options have been selected for broader public consultation,' said NCA Chief Executive, Gary Rake.

"The options include:

Footbridge over Bowen Place

Ramp and stairs with traffic signals

Traffic signals at existing crossing" ... continued at the NCA website

Sunday, 19 December 2010

From January 2011 the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club (YCRC) will conduct cross country, road running, jogalong and training events for Canberra's distance running community. An event program similar to that offered until December 2010 by the ACT Cross Country Club will be advertised shortly on this website.

Arrangements to create the new club began in July 2010. A group of Canberra runners not involved with management of the Cross Country Club formed an association that could organise future distance running events in the ACT, should the Cross Country Club be unable to continue. After further exploring the most effective and economic way of administering a running program, and after considering benefits for runners, foundation members of the new association applied to create a distance running club within the YMCA of Canberra.

Through its formative stages, the new club has maintained a dialogue with the Cross Country Club, now in the process of liquidation. To ensure that it can quickly meet expectations of runners for 2011 and beyond, the new club has purchased Cross Country Club equipment, acquired its rights to business names for major events and taken over ownership of this Canberra Runner website.

The Cross Country Club has allowed YCRC access to names and contact details of its current members, after giving them an opportunity to opt out. Those who have not opted out will be made interim members of the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club until the end of January 2011 and will receive an invitation to join, as soon as new forms and online systems are ready. YCRC members will be non-voting members of the YMCA of Canberra, allowing them access at concessional rates to the YMCA gym at Chifley, as well as a familiar running program.

The YMCA of Canberra Runners Club is managed by a committee of runners, reporting to the YMCA Board. The principal office holders are Geoff Sims, President, Sherryl Greathead, Vice-President, Bob Lowry, Secretary and Graeme Small, Treasurer. We look forward to the support of Canberra runners, to maintain the great running tradition built by the dedicated committees, volunteers and members of the ACT Cross Country Club.

Friday, 17 December 2010

People have been asking though whether speedygeese Monday training is still on. yes it is; every Monday; still at Parliament House!

Happy Birthday Roger 52 today!

One of the highlights of last night's track: the "turkey 2000m" had four people guessing their time within a second. There was a tie for first place: two were within 0.38 seconds of their forecast time. Kathy Southgate was within half a second of her guess and came third.

It was a good night to be on duty - no hassles and lots of fun!

Kathy Southgate: at Weston Park.

Meanwhile Rob & Carol Ey are over in Honolulu. Naturally they ran the marathon while they were there. Carol Ey was 3175th in 4:31.54, and Rob was 4132nd in 4:44.53.

The Customs 5k is on today then having a two week break before resuming on 7 January. I won't be able to attend today, and I anticipate a big improvement in three weeks time!

The ACTCCC website has been taken over by the YMCA-Canberra Runners Club (Y-CRC). See http://www.canberrarunner.com.au/index.php. Although, I see the banner and logo haven't been changed yet (as at 9:40am Friday). And the calendar of events is yet to be updated with Y-CRC organised events, e.g. jogalongs, summer series races, etc. All will be revealed soon I suspect! Read about it second, here.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

BBQ Stakes 6k result 15 Dec:

I had a run in yesterday’s BBQ Stakes so I can report the approximate times of the speedygeese there.

Bob Harlow 28.02

me 29.20

Kerry Tanner 30.16

Helen Larmour 30.56

Roger Pilkington 31.12

Caroline Campbell 38.15

Racing conditions were comfortably hot, fortunately it was cloudy for the race, but humid. Last time I ran it was over 32 minutes, but compare that with my "recent pb" back in June just before my injury, 26 something. Anyway, nice to be improving again.

Random photo from September's Canberra Times Fun Run

Was it a warm day Craig, you're sweating?

Lining up at the Weston Park Vets Handicap in the rain

What is interesting about this photo is how confident Brett looks. ... and yes... he went on to win gold.

What I have been watching: Jenny and I got to see "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" on Sunday. Quite spectacular. Interesting rewrite of the book, some of which added to the story, but some of which did not, for example all the green mist / seven swords stuff, which turns the story from being about character to being about adventure, and makes the quest very different from what was intended. Nevertheless it is a riveting film despite straying from the original author's intentions. A couple of the scenes were enhanced by the 3D effects, otherwise the 3D made little difference. But all in all, a great movie. It's just that I had higher expectations.

Candid Canberra #32 - Scrivener Dam

Canberra has been as waterlogged as the Dawn Treader movie!

Last night's training at Parliament House: Nadine & Iran a relatively fast 8k+ early, then we were joined by Abi, Andy, Brett, Caroline, Christopher, Colleen, Craig, Ewen, Jochen, Joel, Kym, Mick C, Tony, Warrick & Yelena. Training consisted of Rose Garden 12 x 200m intervals with 250m+ jog recovery, on 2:30. I was pleased to keep up, just. All in all it was my first hard-ish training session in six months. But I never fail to be impressed by how well everyone else does in training. There's lots of potential here soon to be unleashed.

.... or "cogitare cogito ergo esse cogito"? "I think I think therefore I think I am"? Alternatively "He thinks he thinks therefore he thinks he is"? If you hear me muttering that phrase, either I am having an existential crisis, or someone is annoying me intensely.

Friday, 10 December 2010

Clarke&Dawe. Now that we know who is running the country, it all makes sense..

"Perhaps yesterday was not the day to go shopping at Spotlight..."

...quoting my daughter. One of many flood photos doing the rounds.

Neil and Craig at Weston Park.

These Weston Park photos were taken on the first day of this rainy "spell". Tropical rain when we are not in the tropics. The rainy "season" has brought, for example, three times the December average to Adelaide in just one day. Even when the rain stops, flooding will continue for weeks. I managed a token 9k yesterday; I ran out of path and I'd sooner run on the grass or dirt tracks, but they are too wet.

6:00pm 3000m GM

6:20pm 3000m walk

6:50pm 100m Daniels

7:00pm 800m Higgins

7:30pm 200m

7:45pm 10,000m

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, December 08, 2010 with No comments

Dear Club Members

The annual Christmas relays were held at Lennox Gardens yesterday afternoon in perfect conditions. Lots of runners arrived to participate in the relays. There were 22 teams made up of runners of all standards from the elite runners to recreation runners. It was good to see a number of triathlon & orienteering clubs & government departments and business organizations participating.

There was a very good atmosphere even though this event marked that last event to be conducted by the ACTCCC.

The committee would like to thank members for the support they have provided for the committee during a very difficult period. Our thanks also go to those members who have assisted with events, particularly the event managers, and those who have provided support by accepting responsibility for very important activities and functions (trophy management,Canberra Runnereditors,Canberra Runnerdistribution, IP & web assistance, results recording, training group coordinators & mentors),

As you are aware a liquidator from RSM Bird Cameron has been appointed to wind up the club. This work is well underway with the emphasis at the moment being on the financial component of the wind up. We have been advised that as an entity the ACTCCC will still be in existence for another four or so months.

The new club (Y Canberra Running Club) is now in place and will be able to accept membership for the 2011 year very soon. A notice about membership will be on the website (www.canberrarunner.com.au). We encourage all members to join before the end of the year.

Finally we would like to wish you good running and we hope that you have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Tuesday evening's Christmas Relay was the final event officially organised by the ACTCCC. Fittingly, club President Doug Limbrick was the last person to cross the finish line. Doug has worked tirelessly for the club since becoming President, a brilliant job despite the hostility he and the club have had to endure, and it was great to see his broad smile and to hear the applause as he finished the run.

Meanwhile here are some photos taken by Janene at the speedygeese Christmas party on Monday night. I am hoping more photos will surface soon...

Richard tells me the spillway construction work had just been completed in time!

Tony and Chris Booth were wonderful hosts at the speedygeese Christmas BBQ last night. The venue was amazing. About 40 attended, and everyone enjoyed the freshly baked bread, and the lack of rain! Sadly I heard they are planning to sell up and move away during 2011.

Monday night training at Parliament House will return to normal next week, and continue right through the holiday period without a break.

Ruth

You too can look like this after a 12 week body transformation process. And having lost all that weight, if you fall on a soft furry animal while out running, you won't squash it too much. See Fun Times Abound!

I have spoken to our hosts about the state of their property after all this rain, and today's BBQ at Pialligo is DEFINITELY ON: even if there is a shower or two between now and then, it will be OK. Only an extraordinary change in the weather now will upset our plans.